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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27634961">A Furious Initiation</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_oncoming_drizzle/pseuds/the_oncoming_drizzle'>the_oncoming_drizzle</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Unnamed [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Humor, Initiation, Newbies, Nick Fury Knows All, Nick Fury's Eye Patch, Pre-Avengers (2012)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:16:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,311</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27634961</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_oncoming_drizzle/pseuds/the_oncoming_drizzle</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Fact number 1: SHIELD is staffed by people.<br/>Fact number 2: People sometimes have weird ways of welcoming newbies, and they call it "initiation."<br/>SHIELD has plenty of normal shenanigans going on when Fury isn’t looking. So, what do SHIELD agents do to initiate new agents? One rather anxious SHIELD agent is about to find out.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Unnamed [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2017469</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Furious Initiation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I don’t know about you, but I hate newbie initiation.</p><p>I was a new agent, assigned to the bridge of the SHIELD Helicarrier. Somehow, I got roped into being “initiated” by the more senior agents, despite trying to keep a low profile.</p><p>Most of the divisions of SHIELD have their own little initiation rituals. The guys running the flight deck all band together to prank newbies. The engineers have to eat something stupidly spicy. The guys in maintenance have it the easiest: newbies just have to mop the barracks every night for the first week they’re aboard.</p><p>The agents in my division said it wouldn’t be hard. They said it wasn’t like I had to eat something disgusting or fight someone or walk around with a stupid shirt on for a whole week.</p><p>...yeah, turns out their definition of “not hard” and mine are completely different.</p><p>I had to bring coffee to the Director of SHIELD.</p><p>As in, Nick Fury himself.</p><p>And here was the thing: that was all they told me. They didn’t tell me how he likes his coffee. They didn’t tell me if he secretly hated coffee (which was doubtful, but still). They didn’t tell me <em> anything else that was remotely useful. </em></p><p>It sounds stupid, but it kept me awake for that first night. And, eventually, I figured if I was going to be awake, I might as well do something useful. So I thought about my problem for a little bit. And then I started making a plan.</p><p>The next morning, I went to the cafeteria and gathered up a small carton of milk, a few packets of sugar, a couple containers of creamer and half-and-half, and even a small bottle of caramel syrup that was always on the counter by the coffee stuff. Then I poured fresh coffee into a cup, put a lid on it, grabbed a few coffee stirrers, arranged everything in my arms/hands/pockets so I wouldn’t drop anything but could still open doors, and set off for the Director’s office.</p><p>The Helicarrier is on duty twenty-four hours a day, so there were already plenty of people in the hallways. A few gave me some weird looks. One or two I recognized from the bridge snickered.</p><p>I just kept walking, trying to act like I wasn’t afraid.</p><p>Fury’s a scary-looking guy. It’s mostly the eyepatch and black trench coat, I think.</p><p>Most agents say he wears the eyepatch because he lost his eye in an interrogation where he refused to give up information. And yeah, that’d be a pretty awesome story, totally fitting for the Director. But me? ...I kinda think he just got his eye scratched by a cat or something and is too tough to say it. I mean, that’d fit his personality too.</p><p>That didn’t make him any less intimidating. He’s like the Chuck Norris of SHIELD. If the Grim Reaper came for him one day, I’m pretty sure all Fury would do is look at him, and the Reaper would apologize and back away slowly.</p><p>I arrived at the door that led into the hallway where Fury’s office was.</p><p>And then I realized that there was no way I had clearance for this area.</p><p>Was <em> that </em> the real initiation? Making me feel stupid?</p><p>It seemed likely.</p><p>But then I steeled myself.</p><p>I had come this far and the coffee was still hot. If those guys were going to try and trick me into delivering coffee, I was going to go the whole nine yards and actually deliver the stuff, if I could. I didn’t become a SHIELD agent because it was a risk-free job, after all.</p><p>Of course, inwardly, I was still freaking out.</p><p>I slid my keycard into the slot by the door and put my hand on the print recognition plate.</p><p>Surprisingly, the door opened.</p><p>And even more surprisingly, I walked through.</p><p>No one was in the hallway beyond the door. Oh, sure, there were the standard surveillance and defense systems that were all over the Helicarrier, but there were no people around.</p><p>I kept walking until I reached the door of Director Fury’s office.</p><p>It seemed odd that the Director of SHIELD didn’t have a security detail outside his office. But, then again, this guy can see an attack coming a mile away, even with only one eye. So maybe he figured SHIELD’s resources were better spent somewhere else. Plus, even without seeing the guy in combat, I knew Director Fury was <em> not </em> a man who was easily taken down.</p><p>With those cheerful thoughts in mind, I swallowed hard and knocked on the door.</p><p>“Director Fury?” I asked.</p><p>“It’s open!” he called.</p><p>I frowned. Was this some kind of trick?</p><p>“Sir?”</p><p>“Door’s not locked, Agent! You can come in! I’ve been expecting you!”</p><p>A shiver went down my spine.</p><p>Oh, crud.</p><p>Had the Director been replaced by an enemy agent? I mean, SHIELD’s one of the most secure organizations on the planet, but all agents are warned of the possibility of infiltration. Was that why it had been so stupidly easy for me to get into this area of the Helicarrier? I glanced at the gun in my holster. I made note of the reassuring presence of my comms earpiece. I tightened my grip on the coffee cup.</p><p>And then I took a deep breath and opened the door.</p><p>Director Fury looked up from whatever he was doing on his computer screens. Then he leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers.</p><p>“What exactly are you here for, Agent?” he asked.</p><p>I swallowed, but held his gaze.</p><p>“I brought you coffee, Sir.”</p><p>“Coffee.”</p><p>I nodded. “Yes, sir.”</p><p>“I see.”</p><p>He gestured at the desk, and I took that as a signal to put everything down. I put the coffee down first, then all of the extra things I had brought with me. And then I took a step back.</p><p>Fury stood up, pressing his fingertips against his desk and leaning forward. He looked like he was either going to kill me or fire me, and I wasn’t sure which one would be worse.</p><p>“Let me guess,” he said. “This is some sort of initiation thing from the guys on the bridge.”</p><p>My eyes widened a bit.</p><p>“You know about that? ...Sir?”</p><p>He loosened up a little, his posture less intimidating now.</p><p>“Oh, I’ve known about this initiation crap since it started. I <em> let </em> it keep happening. And to be honest, I don’t mind. Tells me a lot about the agents that come aboard the Helicarrier.”</p><p>Fury walked out from behind his desk, clasping his hands behind his back. He raised the one eyebrow he had.</p><p>“But you know what, Agent, you’re a first.”</p><p>I resisted the urge to swallow and forced my face to remain neutral. “Sir?”</p><p>He gestured at the small array of things I had brought along with the coffee.</p><p>“You’re the first one that’s brought me coffee and didn’t try to doctor it up or just assume I like it plain. Even brought that caramel syrup stuff.” Director Fury gave me a small smile. “Assuming nothing and planning for every eventuality. I like that in my agents.”</p><p>He held out his hand, still smiling. “Welcome to the team, Agent.”</p><p>I relaxed a little and shook his hand.</p><p>Fury’s grip suddenly tightened, and his smile was gone.</p><p>“Don’t you dare tell anyone about this,” he said, looking every bit the gritty Director of SHIELD.</p><p>And then—in the same tone—he said, “It’ll ruin the fun.”</p><p>Then he smiled again. He could have been blinking (it was hard to tell with the eyepatch), but I swear he winked at me.</p><p>As I left his office, I found myself smiling.</p><p>Nick Fury was something else. Gritty, and gruff, and secretive as heck… but definitely a good guy.</p><p>And <em> definitely </em> not above messing with people.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This Story was partially inspired by a social media post I saw about two different employees. Both were asked by their boss to go out and buy some oranges. Afterward, one employee was promoted and the other one wasn’t. When the one who hadn’t been promoted complained and asked why, his boss told him, “You did exactly what I said to do. You went out and bought a bag of oranges. But the other guy asked me why I wanted the oranges. I told him my wife was making juice. So he went and researched which oranges make the best juice, and bought those. That’s why I gave him the promotion.”</p></blockquote></div></div>
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